Raagib Quraishi | Desensitizing Readers on Immigration

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After reading The Signal’s view (June 23) on the border crisis, it was clear what they were trying to do. They were trying to desensitize readers to the breaking up of families and what was happening south of the border and on the border itself. They tried to blame past administrations for doing the same thing and misleading readers by stating the same thing would happen to a citizen if they were to commit a crime and get locked up. They failed to acknowledge the fact that separating the families of legal asylum seekers is a unique policy enacted by our current administration. These are not people who committed a crime, these are people who apparently know our laws better than the president. They are also fleeing violence from their home countries in search of a life of freedom for their loved ones.

As if this was not enough of a slippery slope the editorial board then pivots the blame on to the families of these refugees, citing “personal responsibility.” That is a truly shocking statement for The Signal and they are showing the public that they no longer value independent non-biased journalism. Personal responsibility is acknowledging that your family is no longer safe in a land that you yourself grew up in and know so well. It means trekking across unknown lands with unknown consequences and risking it all in order that you might cross the border per chance into a foreign land called America where they might have heard the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” God did not forbid these people from pursuing their own happiness and our founding fathers knew this even if Jeff Sessions doesn’t.

It’s time for The Signal to show some personal responsibility and apologize for what it put its readers through. Santa Clarita should have a newspaper that can be conservative yet not become a Trump apologist and try to normalize the egregious actions of our president. What’s become of personal responsibility indeed.